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Bibleworks vs. Logos vs. Accordance Interface

I have been contemplating purchasing Bibleworks or one of the other "big three" for several years now. I know the general strengths and weaknesses of each of them, and I think any of them would give me far more than what I currently have. Trying to decide which is best has been a big part of slowing me down from making a purchase, but I finally realize that I need to take the plunge one way or another. It seems for the combination of price, speed, search functions, and original language resources, Bibleworks is the way to go. However, one thing that really turns me off to Bibleworks is its interface. It looks nowhere near as user-friendly as the other two. I would like to hear from Bibleworks users who have thought similarly, at least initially. After using the interface for a long enough period I'm sure it gets better, but wouldn't you still prefer to look at and use the Logos or Accordance screens? I know that blogs have posted software comparisons ad nauseum, but I would like to hear what Bibleworks users have to say specifically about this apparent weakness. And any other advice you might have would be appreciated too!

"Type" of Interface

Interface is an interesting idea. I find that Bibleworks makes optimal use of every pixel on the screen....I think of it as a "dense" interface. What Logos and Accordance will do with several dialogues or nested menus BibleWorks tends to fit into a single very dense window. Take for example my favorite lexicon, Louw Nida. In BibleWorks, in a single window I get the domain listings, the domains possible for a particular lexeme, and the specific definitions for a lexeme in a particular semantic domain. I can get the same thing in Accordance, but by the time I set the window up to display all that information, it looks amazingly like BibleWorks. Generally, everything I can do in BibleWorks I can also do in Accordance. In BibleWorks I need to spend some time understanding command line syntax to be productive, but in Accordance the real "magic" tends to be buried under the search menu and various combinations therein.

It's subjective, but my feeling after using it for years is that Accordance and Logos simply don't show me as much information on a particular screen as BibleWorks. I think that density is good interface design, but I'm sure it looks different to someone who is just starting out. I'm amazed that after all the work that has gone into the graphic user interface design, we've seen the rebirth of the command line in utilities like Gnome Do, Launch Bar and Launchy. Sometimes the more productive interface isn't the most graphically appealing.

I went ahead and took the plunge. I ordered BW 8 with the BDAG/HALOT add-on. I'll figure out how to work the thing eventually, even though it looks foreign to me. Thank you for your responses--they helped give me that last little "nudge."

I went ahead and took the plunge. I ordered BW 8 with the BDAG/HALOT add-on. I'll figure out how to work the thing eventually, even though it looks foreign to me. Thank you for your responses--they helped give me that last little "nudge."

Congratulations. And you already know where to ask if you need help, i.e., right here.

Welcome

Originally Posted by Lee

I went ahead and took the plunge. I ordered BW 8 with the BDAG/HALOT add-on. I'll figure out how to work the thing eventually, even though it looks foreign to me. Thank you for your responses--they helped give me that last little "nudge."

Lee,

You'll have a great journey ahead of you. Be sure to work through the screen cams of various BibleWorks functions in the help system....those always inspire me to new ideas. Also, sign up for the classroom tips, they are always great. Here is the link:

Be patient with the learning curve (which all 3 programs have); the screen layout and interface will richly reward you - it's the cleanest, most uncluttered of all three. I can see so much more instant and composite info in Bibleworks than Logos or Accordance. Bibleworks is the one program that has consistently kept me from switching to Mac altogether. The number of versions and translations for the price is phenomenal in itself.

My top 5 hints to get started:

l niv = limit search to NIV
. God = find all occurrences of God
'Jesus said = find all occurrences with exactly "Jesus said", in that word order
Esc = takes you back to the Command Line
Shift as you move cursor = Allows you to move cursor to other screen areas without changing info
(like the Results Window)

I'm a long-time user of both BW and Logos, and have played with Accordance. (Macbook +Parallels +Dell desktop)

I don't own any Logos base packages, and do nearly all my textual work in Bibleworks. One of the advantageous things in BW is that in doing Greek/Hebrew/ARamaic searches, you don't have to manually change the keyboard, it adapts to whatever your search version is.